The first pilot program of the capability reviews was quietly released on July 5, with the Australian Public Service Commission’s the expected first cab off the rank.
Public service minister Katy Gallagher said she was aware of the review’s findings.
“The APS commissioner will respond to the review in the near term, and government will consider the review recommendations in the context of our broader APS reform agenda,” Gallagher told The Mandarin.
Led by former APSC deputy secretary Carmel McGregor and Defence’s deputy secretary Justine Greig, the capability review found there was appetite for the commission to be more authoritative.
However, in order to take on this role, McGregor and Greig said the APSC would have to address its internal capability issues.
“Workforce issues require urgent attention to ensure the commission recruits and retains the right staff with the right skills to deliver on its mandate,” the reviewers said.
“Careful forward workforce planning is needed to solve current issues of rapid turnover and consequent loss of corporate knowledge and expertise, and imbalances in staffing profiles and skills mix.”
The reviewers also noted the APSC’s funding model continued to be “problematic”, with a reliance on cost recovery and ad hoc temporary funding.
“Further work on a sustainable funding model, particularly for the APS Academy, is required,” McGregor and Greig.
“This review found it hard to assess how priorities are set across the commission and, until this is clarified and transparent, it will be difficult to determine a different funding model.”
The rating scale within the report has four categories, and from highest to lowest are: leading, embedded, developing, and emerging.
If rated on an A to D report card scale, and giving each assessment equal weight, the commission’s grade would average out to a C.
Two areas were labelled as emerging, the lowest possible rating: strategic workforce planning and development, and staff performance and capability.
The separation rate was 32% in 2021-22, almost double the 16.5% separation rate in 2017-18.
“Due to the high turnover, loss of corporate memory and dated information handling systems, incoming staff identified that it is difficult to pick up projects mid-way through delivery,” the report stated.
“Conversely, there are staff considered specialists in their field who have been at the Commission for a long time, creating a single point of failure if they leave.”
The report card said the issue could be mitigated to a degree through effective information management and record-keeping.
The APSC is considering the review’s findings, and will respond with an action plan by September this year.
PM&C secretary Glyn Davis welcomed the review, calling the APSC a “critical institution at the centre of the public sector”.
“The Australian government has committed to an ambitious APS Reform agenda,” Davis wrote in the foreword.
“It is crucial that the commission is capable and equipped to support the APS to deliver the government’s agenda.”
Bringing capability reviews back was a key recommendation out of Thodey, with the last time they were run between 2012 and 2016.
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